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Chief Taha Aki had been married twice, but as he did not age due to phasing into a wolf, both his wives died. He imprinted on a young woman and they got married; she became known as the Third Wife. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that they could grow old together, and they had numerous children.

Many years after he had given up his spirit wolf, several young Makah women went missing, and the Makah tribe blamed the Quileute shape-shifters for the disappearances. They were uninvolved, and Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but was unable to. Not wanting a war on his hands, he sent his eldest son, Taha Wi, to find the true culprit. Taha Wi and five other wolves searched the mountains for the missing Makah girls, and came across a sickly sweet smell in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain. They followed the unfamiliar scent, and further on discovered human scent and blood. They knew that they had found the enemy who had kidnapped the Makah women. The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half of the pack, the younger wolves, back to the Quileute village to report to Taha Aki. Taha Wi and his two brothers never returned.

The younger wolves could find no trace of their brothers, and Taha Aki mourned for his sons. His grief was so convincing that the Makah chief believed him, and tensions ended between the tribes.

Two years later, two more Makah girls disappeared from their homes during the night. The Quileute wolves were called at once, and they found the same sickly stench all through the Makah village. They followed the smell, but only Yaha Uta, the oldest son of the Third Wife and the youngest member of the pack, returned, carrying with him a strange, cold, stony corpse in pieces. He and his brothers had found a creature who looked like a man but was as hard as granite, with the Makah girls: one was dead and drained of blood, the other was having her blood drank by the creature, who snapped her neck. His lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red. The wolves attacked him but he was immensely strong and fast. One of the wolves fell, the other two continued to fight. They discovered that their teeth could damage it, and started to tear chunks out of the creature. Yaha Uta's brother was being crushed by the creature when Yaha Uta managed to tear its head off and rip it to shreds.

Yaha Uta brought the creature's remains back to the harbor, and laid them out for the tribe to inspect. The creature, which they called the Cold One and the Blood Drinker, tried to reassemble itself, so they burned the pieces and scattered them. Taha Aki kept a bag of the Cold Man's ashes in a bag which he wore around his neck.

The Cold Man's mate, the Cold Woman, tried to avenge her mate by destroying the Quileutes, and killed Yaha Uta, but Taha Aki managed to destroy her after the Third Wife distracted the Cold Woman by plunging a dagger into her own heart.